September 15, 2014

The African middle class is booming and interest in wine across the continent is growing with it.  Improved socio-political conditions and economic reformation have been supporting factors driving the continent to see a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5% per year over the past ten years.  Currently Africa has a collective GDP of $1.6 trillion and an estimated collective 2020 GDP of $2.6 trillion.  Today the continent has collective consumer spending of $860 billion which by 2020 is predicted to climb to $1.4 trillion.  In eight of the ten past years Africa grew faster than East Asia and was home to six of the ten fastest growing global economies.  Within the next five years, seven of the ten fastest growing economies will be in Africa. All of these factors point to vast opportunity for the South African wine industry as luxury brands gain a presence in African markets.  Some challenges remain however.  Red tape, lack of cold storage, and infrastructure are issues, as well as the need to ease the flow of goods into markets.  To read further:

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